Too skinny isn't good of course, and in women a small waist but ample butt is a good thing biologically, since as we've seen recently, such an hour glass figure is perfect for supplying the lipids an unborn baby needs for brain development.

It's time to let go of the things you will never have, work on enhancing your best features and what is realistically achievable. Exercise and healthy eating programmes will not make your legs grow as long as a supermodel's.

Linda openly admits she is 'fattist' (how is this even a term?), objecting to the fact that being a size 18+ is unhealthy. "I am unapologetically fattist. It's unattractive, it's unhealthy and, given the problems that being fat can cause, it should be as unacceptable as smoking." - Linda.

Someone will probably think I'm over reacting, but when you are constantly told day in and day out that you need to put weight on, and people look at you like you purposely starve yourself, it does get irritating; and I'm sure there are larger people out there who feel the same about people staring and talking about them.

When I asked one of my French friends how this links with weight control, I was awarded a gloriously Gallic shrug and the simple explanation that if something doesn't taste good she won't eat it. She deserves better, as does her body.

When did women stop being women, and start being numbers? Pounds, kilos, stone, inches, dress sizes - why does a woman's happiness depend so readily on something that, in the great scheme of things, is almost irrelevant?